United is the first major airline to require vaccines for all its employees

United Airlines goes to be the first major U.S. airline to require its U.S.-based employees, all 67,000 of them – to to have vaccinated against COVID-19. In A memo Sent to employees on Friday outlining the new tenure, United CEO Scott Kirby and Chairman Brett Hart explained that while some employees “will disagree with this decision”, it is ultimately … the right thing to do.

“This fall, every United employee based in the United States will need to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and upload their vaccination record to Flying Together,” United wrote, referring to the employee login portal used by people working for the airline. “We have no greater responsibility to you and your colleagues than keeping you safe while you are at work, and the facts are clear: Everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated. “

According to the note, each of these employees will be required to record photos of their vaccination cards showing that they have received a full turn of the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine later until October 25 if the drug remains under emergency authorization. If the Food and Drug Administration formally authorizes no vaccine before that October deadline, these employees will have five weeks after FDA approval to get vaccinated.

Employees who are already vaxxed – and those who upload their documents before the aforementioned deadline – will receive an additional day’s pay as a bonus. Although this benefit does not apply to pilots and flight attendants, who have already obtained compromises negotiated by the union to upload their own files, the note notes.

United also let employees know that during the hellish development of the pandemic, Kirby sent “dozens” of condolence letters to family members of United employees who died from COVID-19. “We are determined to do everything possible to try to prevent another United family from receiving this letter,” the memo continued. “Thank you for everything you continue to do to take care of our customers and each other. “

Like the Wall Street Journal points outKirby had been expressing his wish to have his staff vaccinated for some time now, but noted in a meeting last January that the mandate would be difficult to apply if other airliners were not on board. Previously, the closest United came enforcing this kind of rule requires that all new employees be vaccinated since June of this year, a rule that Delta Airlines also has implement.